Record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot won by 3 tickets

Jan 14, 2016, 2:51 am (182 comments)

Powerball

Winning Powerball lottery tickets sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee

Final jackpot total of $1.5864 billion will be split 3 ways

How would you react if you won?

By Todd Northrop

The largest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen has been won Wednesday night by three tickets sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee.

Since the initial jackpot estimate was set to $1.3 billion early Sunday morning, the Powerball lottery jackpot was raised two more times before the Wednesday drawing, and by the time all the sales were totalled at draw time, the jackpot stood at a faint-inducing $1.5864 billion — that's $1,586,400,000.

The lump-sum cash value for Wednesday's drawing was just a hair shy of $1 billion, with the final tally standing at $983.5 million

The Powerball winning numbers for Wednesday, January 13, 2016, were 4, 8, 19, 27, and 34, with Powerball number 10. The Power Play was 2.

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot was the accumulation of 19 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner over a two-month stretch.  The jackpot run-up started as a $40 million grand prize on Nov. 7, 2015.

California Lottery spokesman Alex Travesta said the jackpot-winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, about 25 miles northeast of Anaheim.

People cheered and took photos in the store's parking lot Wednesday night. A store employee said the 7-Eleven had sold about $12,000 worth of tickets on Wednesday.

"I'm really happy," said an employee of the store at 4092 Chino Hills Parkway, which will receive the maximum bonus of $1 million. "It's very good news."

The three winners probably got very little sleep Wednesday night, as they try to process winning the world's largest lottery jackpot ever.

Are the winners running around the house screaming?  Are they calling their family?  Or maybe calling their boss to quit their job?  What are they planning to do with all that loot?

What is the first thing you would do?

Fortunately, even if you didn't win the jackpot, the Powerball game still offers another 8 ways to win lower-tier prizes.

In addition to the jackpot winners, a whopping 81 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers, but not the Powerball, for a $1,000,000 prize: 4 from Arizona, 12 from California, 3 from Connecticut, 12 from Florida, 2 from Georgia, 2 from Illinois, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Iowa, 2 from Kansas, 3 from Kentucky, 1 from Louisiana, 3 from Maryland, 2 from Massachusetts, 5 from Michigan, 2 from New Jersey, 5 from New York, 2 from North Carolina, 3 from Ohio, 1 from Oklahoma, 3 from Pennsylvania, 2 from Rhode Island, 1 from Tennessee, 4 from Texas, 2 from Virginia, 2 from Washington, and 1 from West Virginia..

Of all the second-prize winners, eight tickets — one of the tickets sold in Arizona, one from Florida, the ticket sold in Iowa, one from New Jersey, both tickets from North Carolina, the ticket sold in Tennessee, and one ticket from Texas — were purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1.  Because they purchased the Power Play, those particular tickets are now worth $2 million.

The California second-prize winners will each receive $638,146 this drawing, because by law California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.

934 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $50,000. Of those tickets, 107 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000, and 141 were sold in California, where the prize was $13,903 this drawing.

The odds to win the Powerball jackpot were 1 in 292.2 million.

Officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game, had said they expected more than 85 percent of all the possible number combinations would have been bought for the drawing.

Had no one matched all of the numbers drawn lottery officials said the next jackpot would have reached $2 billion.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

After all the proceeds were counted, Wednesday's $1.5864 billion Powerball jackpot stood as the largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States — and the world.

  1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  3. Mega Millions: $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
  4. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
  5. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
  6. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
  7. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
  8. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
  9. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
  10. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
  11. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
  12. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
  13. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
  14. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
  15. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
  16. Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
  17. Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan
  18. Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
  19. Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
  20. The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
  21. Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
  22. Mega Millions: $326 million, Nov. 4, 2014 - New York
  23. Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011 - New York
  24. Mega Millions: $315 million, Nov. 15, 2005 - California
  25. Powerball: $314.9 million, Dec. 25, 2002 - West Virginia

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Powerball: 13
  • Mega Millions: 10
  • The Big Game: 2

The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002.  The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.

Top 25 cash value jackpots

Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.  The Wednesday Powerball jackpot's $379.8 million cash value ranks as the 2nd-highest lump-sum cash value jackpot in history.

  1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
  2. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
  3. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
  4. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
  5. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
  6. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($648 million annuity) - California, Georgia
  7. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
  8. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
  9. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
  10. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
  11. Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
  12. Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
  13. Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
  14. Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
  15. Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
  16. Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
  17. Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York
  18. Mega Millions: $197.5 million cash, Nov. 4, 2014 ($326 million annuity) - New York
  19. Powerball: $197.4 million cash, Sep. 30, 2015 ($310.5 million annuity) - Michigan
  20. Mega Millions: $194.4 million cash, Aug. 31, 2007 ($330 million annuity) - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
  21. Mega Millions: $185 million cash, Nov. 15, 2005 ($315 million annuity) - California
  22. The Big Game: $180 million cash, May 9, 2000 ($363 million annuity) - Illinois, Michigan
  23. Mega Millions: $177.3 million cash, Jan. 16, 2015 ($270 million annuity) - Illinois
  24. Powerball: $177.3 million cash, Feb. 18, 2006 ($365 million annuity) - Nebraska
  25. Powerball: $170.5 million cash, Dec. 25, 2002 ($314.9 million annuity) - West Virginia

The number of jackpot cash values in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

  • Powerball: 13
  • Mega Millions: 11
  • The Big Game: 1

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Abdi's avatarAbdi

Congragulations to The Winners!

duckman's avatarduckman

Looks like the largest Powerball winner is still the one-quick-pick person from Florida in 2013:

Powerball: $590.5 million, 1 Winner - May 18, 2013 - Florida

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

So Ridge won in TN - now we REALLY won't hear from him again - Disapprove

LOL!! 

Abdi's avatarAbdi

Quote: Originally posted by Abdi on Jan 14, 2016

Congragulations to The Winners!

Do not Forget 81 players matched the First 5 Numbers ,they only missed Number 10.

As a lottery player,I understand how it can be very Frustrating for anyone amongest the 81 players,who might have selected Number 9 or Number 11 as the Powerball number.

Especially now that the jackpot was $ 1.5 Billion.

maximumfun's avatarmaximumfun

Quote: Originally posted by DELotteryPlyr on Jan 14, 2016

So Ridge won in TN - now we REALLY won't hear from him again - Disapprove

LOL!! 

I hope that Ridge did win either now or earlier.  That would be an amazing thing for him.

 

Congratulations to all the winners in this drawing - and quite frankly I am very happy I do not live in California holding a 4+1 winner - 12+K$?  1 ball off and it goes from a 1/3 share of 1/5+B to 12+K?  ouch

Ron5995

Quote: Originally posted by duckman on Jan 14, 2016

Looks like the largest Powerball winner is still the one-quick-pick person from Florida in 2013:

Powerball: $590.5 million, 1 Winner - May 18, 2013 - Florida

Highest top cash value too of ~$371 million. The infamous drawing in which MUSL advertised $600 million annuity, but paid out less. I suspect MUSL was extra careful in their projections lately, because, while the FL incident isn't well known, some have noticed, and the media would have pounced on the issue.

Abdi's avatarAbdi

Quote: Originally posted by Abdi on Jan 14, 2016

Do not Forget 81 players matched the First 5 Numbers ,they only missed Number 10.

As a lottery player,I understand how it can be very Frustrating for anyone amongest the 81 players,who might have selected Number 9 or Number 11 as the Powerball number.

Especially now that the jackpot was $ 1.5 Billion.

out of 81 ,12 players played in california! to me it appears california is home to lottery players who have master's degree from "the university of hard knocks",one of the jackpot winner's is also from california.

sirbrad's avatarsirbrad

OK that is not such a big deal now. Sleep LOL I said in a post that I doubt there would be more than 3 winners so at least I got that prediction right. How would I react? I would just be like "cool" and go back to doing what I was doing Lol! I would be kinda glad the attention would be split 3 ways and not just be on me. I am just glad I did not spend much on this and no longer have to keep spending $2.00. I plan on winning cash for life anyway soon and almost did now twice. ($1,000 a DAY for LIFE $365,000 annually) After taxes about $273,000 a year which is plenty for me. Or the Mega Millions as well. Many will play now as it is more of a relief and less burden and you won't be so famous if you win $40 million. But it makes more sense cost wise to play MM's for better odds and only paying half as much. I would love to win the $40 million though next draw so I would be completely anonymous while they are still looking for the $1.6 billion winner. LOL But the cost is not worth it as much as the MB now. So they would be smart not to change it.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

 3 winning tickets? but the pot goes to Ca.  did the same person play 3 copies of the same numbers? or are we waiting for 2 more winners?

Abdi's avatarAbdi

Quote: Originally posted by sirbrad on Jan 14, 2016

OK that is not such a big deal now. Sleep LOL I said in a post that I doubt there would be more than 3 winners so at least I got that prediction right. How would I react? I would just be like "cool" and go back to doing what I was doing Lol! I would be kinda glad the attention would be split 3 ways and not just be on me. I am just glad I did not spend much on this and no longer have to keep spending $2.00. I plan on winning cash for life anyway soon and almost did now twice. ($1,000 a DAY for LIFE $365,000 annually) After taxes about $273,000 a year which is plenty for me. Or the Mega Millions as well. Many will play now as it is more of a relief and less burden and you won't be so famous if you win $40 million. But it makes more sense cost wise to play MM's for better odds and only paying half as much. I would love to win the $40 million though next draw so I would be completely anonymous while they are still looking for the $1.6 billion winner. LOL But the cost is not worth it as much as the MB now. So they would be smart not to change it.

You won $ 365,000 that is quite a huge amount of money,I am just wondering why you did not upgrade to a platinum membership here at LP.I am sure Todd would have appreciated it.

Groppo's avatarGroppo

I really wanted to win something. Doggonit. 
I mean DOGGONIT I wanted to win something.

I've not checked for prize 2. Too many worthless tickets.

But, I'll check them, come Sunday, when I get tickets for the week.

BLAST! (or BLOST, as the Brittish would say)

 

Man am I upset.  Somebody talk to me.

THIS REALLY BUGS ME. I KID YOU NOT. 

sirbrad's avatarsirbrad

Quote: Originally posted by Abdi on Jan 14, 2016

You won $ 365,000 that is quite a huge amount of money,I am just wondering why you did not upgrade to a platinum membership here at LP.I am sure Todd would have appreciated it.

I did not say I won I said I plan to and almost did twice. LOL I was a Platinum member way back for awhile but someone bought it for me as a gift because they liked my posts. But if I had that much money being Platinum would not do me much good as I don't use this site much except for occasional posting and when jackpots get big. I would be on even less then. I have also contributed here for about 11 years now. If I won big I might upgrade then especially if something appeared to help me win but I would not feel obligated to just because I won. I spent the money not anyone else.

mrbg's avatarmrbg

I just woke up and read the headlines. I saw that tn had a winner. I ran to the kitchen to check my tickets. I got 2 plus powerball. I guess I have to go back to work. Lol

LotteryInOK

Lucky them!!!! I wish I was one of the winners!

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